The present invention relates generally to the signal processing of natural language, and more particularly to identifying factual statements in natural language, and determining the veracity of these factual statements.
There are many circumstances where it is useful to quickly verify factual assertions, such as business meetings, technical assessments or financial consultations. During these interactions, factual assertions often support the decision making process. Many factual assertions are not verified prior to making a decision. One way to verify a factual assertion may be to use a search engine and do an analysis of the documents returned pertaining to the assertion. Such an option is typically not viable in a fast-paced business meeting. Moreover, using a search engine in this capacity during a business meeting may communicate distrust or lack of interest.